Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
"I demonstrate that Microsoft's tune-up software is flawed and that coding errors resulted in incorrect statements to peer reviewers," said Legg. "Raw data, which was omitted from the original paper, also appears to indicate Microsoft's devices contain considerable disorder and are not compatible with the existence of a topological gap. In other words, the prerequisites for Microsoft's claims do not appear to be met, but this was obscured because this data did not appear in the original publication."
Essentially, Microsoft has proposed a Topological Gap Protocol (TGP) that can be used to detect the phase transition deemed to be a prerequisite for conducting quantum calculations using Majorana particles. Legg argues that based on his analysis of underlying transport data (measurements of particle change) -- omitted from the original publication -- Microsoft chose to focus on results that supported its thesis and ignored data that could be interpreted as a negative result. As he notes in his critique: "The TGP plotting code was set to highlight only the largest purportedly topological region."
"The primary consequence was the omission of other regions that passed their tune-up protocol (the TGP)," said Legg. "When peer reviewers asked if other regions existed, Microsoft inaccurately stated that they had investigated the only region passing the protocol within the explored range. This was not correct." Legg also argues that Microsoft mishandled its code. "The code antisymmetrized bias voltage based on array index rather than physical value," his analysis says.
In other words, Microsoft's researchers made a basic programming mistake by evaluating the array index -- the number identifying a value's position in an array -- instead of the value to which the index refers. "There were two pretty basic Python programming errors that hid these alternative regions," Legg explained. "Their plotting software was hardcoded with a filter (zbp_cluster_numbers=[1]) that forced it to display only the single largest region, concealing other successful results from their phase maps. Changing this to zbp_cluster_numbers=[1,2] shows already a second region." Legg added: "The TGP software transformed the data by simply reversing a Python array (x[::-1]) based on its index position, ignoring the actual physical bias voltages."
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Most U.S. nuclear power plants were built between 1970 and 1990. Only two new large reactors have been built from scratch in the United States in recent decades. Those two reactors, at Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Vogtle, were completed years late and billions of dollars over budget. The 10 new reactors will use the same design, Westinghouse's AP1000. Wright said the Plant Vogtle project struggled because of bad planning, supply chain problems and the COVID-19 pandemic. But, he said, the reactor design is "robust and sound."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
stan.jernigan has added a photo to the pool:
I took this photo of “Jeju City” on my iPhone 17 Pro Max from my veranda as we left Jeju Island, South Korea. I really enjoyed the sites I visited. They were delightful and well worth seeing…
T.Marko has added a photo to the pool:
Beneath the iconic red arch of Kabukichō Ichibangai, Tokyo unfolds in layers of light, motion, and energy. The gate frames a living scene—crowds drifting through neon-lit streets, each step part of the city’s restless rhythm.
This photograph captures a fleeting moment where structure and chaos coexist, where the bold geometry of the arch contrasts with the organic flow of people below. A gateway not just to a place, but to a mood—vivid, electric, and unmistakably Tokyo.
De vrijheid van onderwijs was ooit natuurlijk een goed idee omdat, nee, wacht, het is altijd al een kudtidee geweest. School is er logischerwijs niet om de levensbeschouwelijke of religieuze ideeën van ouders te megafoniseren, maar juist om enig tegenwicht te bieden, omdat die ouders het zomaar eens mis zouden kunnen hebben, en die kinderen dat nog niet kunnen weten. Onderwijs zou een tegengif moeten zijn voor indoctrinatie, dat begrijpt iedereen, althans, iedereen die fatsoenlijk onderwijs heeft genoten, en (mede) omdat wij hier die prachtige vrijheid van onderwijs hebben zijn dat er nou ook weer niet zo gek veel. Natuurlijk staat het ouders vrij om hun kroost buiten lesuren alsnog te vertroebelen met waanideeën, om hun eigen wereldbeeld via weekendscholen de hersens van het nageslacht in te beitelen, want gekte moet doorgegeven worden, o nee, stel je voor, straks is Vlinder, Patrick of Mohammed iets minder getikt dan het tweetal dat haar of hem verwekte. De vrijheid van onderwijs staat gezonde evolutie in de weg; weg ermee.
Afijn, lang verhaal kort, proost op het handjevol kinderen dat niet alleen uit Almere komt, maar straks ook nog eens de twijfelachtige eer heeft om de heropende Renaissanceschool te mogen bevolken. Arme stakkers.
LONDEN (ANP) - De evacuatie van ongeveer 11.000 zeevarenden die vastzitten in de Perzische Golf zal "enkele weken" in beslag nemen. Dat is de inschatting van secretaris-generaal Arsenio Dominguez van de Internationale Maritieme Organisatie (IMO), de scheepvaartorganisatie van de Verenigde Naties. Het is de bedoeling dat schepen die vastzaten door de sluiting van de Straat van Hormuz stapsgewijs weg kunnen, nu Iran die zeestraat heeft geopend als onderdeel van een voorlopig vredesakkoord met de Verenigde Staten.
Ongeveer zeshonderd schepen zitten vast in de Perzische Golf. De IMO hoopt dat "ongeveer vijftig schepen per dag" door de zeestraat bij Hormuz kunnen, zei Dominguez in gesprek met persbureau AFP. "Gisteren zijn er een paar schepen doorheen gevaren", aldus de secretaris-generaal. "Het is een stapsgewijs proces."
De IMO wil bij het coördineren van de evacuatie ongelukken of aanvaringen voorkomen, legde Dominguez uit. Daarom kunnen niet alle schepen tegelijk over de smalle overgebleven vaarroutes weg.
Het evacuatieplan leidt de schepen over twee routes langs de Omaanse en Iraanse kust. Daarbij mijden de schepen de gangbare route door de Straat van Hormuz. De IMO heeft volgens Dominguez te horen gekregen dat daar ongeveer tachtig zeemijnen liggen.
Steeds meer restaurants zien het als hun opdracht om de dranken voor het non-alcoholische arrangement zelf te vervaardigen en niet uit een fles te schenken. „Ik zet liever iets moois van mezelf op tafel dat beter aansluit bij het gerecht.”
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Tja, toch even voor de mensen die gister de CT zagen en bij het lezen van de titel dachten een mooi stukje (moderne) Iron Maiden te gaan horen, en die toen teringteleurgesteld waren omdat het een jaren-80 emulatieband bleek, hier toch nog even die andere Brighter than a thousand suns.
Did a medieval flying monk spot Halley’s comet, twice? It’s complicated. Halley’s Comet came around in 1066 and it’s likely Eilmer of Malmesbury saw a different comet in 1018, not Halley’s in 989.
President was due to sign deal aimed at making life more affordable for Americans but shelved event to pressure Congress to pass restrictive voting bill
A man or a movement? That was the question being asked when Zohran Mamdani gambled his political capital on Tuesday’s elections in New York.
The answer from voters was emphatic: they prefer Mamdani and his brand of democratic socialism to the Democratic party establishment and its lukewarm version of capitalism. America’s biggest city has swung even further to the left.
This is a battle between the establishment and this insurgency. And the roof is collapsing on the Democratic party establishment tonight … This is no longer a movement; this is a movement and a machine at the same time.
Continue reading...Refugee charities fear controversial changes, including on forced removals and age checks, are being rushed through
Shabana Mahmood’s controversial plans to increase the forced removal of people refused asylum, introduce stringent age checks for people claiming to be children and limit applications under human rights laws are scheduled to be placed before MPs within days.
The immigration and asylum bill is expected to be put before parliament next Tuesday and will face opposition from some Labour, Lib Dem and independent MPs. Andy Burnham’s team, widely expected to be in No 10 within weeks, is understood to be aware of the bill and its contents.
Continue reading...Revenue share is 14.4%; players want 16%
Players to limit time they give to the media
The top men’s and women’s tennis players have decided to continue their protests for a greater percentage of grand slam tournament revenues at Wimbledon.
A month after the top players chose to limit their pre-tournament media duties at the French Open to 15 minutes, the players will extend the protest until the end of the first week of the tournament, also limiting their post-match media duties during the event.
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